IN TWEETS: Ramaphosa pays tribute to Winnie Madikizela-Mandela by reading Maya Angelou’s poem, ‘And still I rise’
JOBURG – 'May your soul rest in eternal peace,' said the president.
President Cyril Ramaphosa took to the podium to pay tribute to Winnie Madikizela-Mandela at her funeral service at the Orlando Stadium in Soweto.
The president read Maya Angelou’s poem, And Still I Rise at the funeral.
It was not long ago that we celebrated with Mama Winnie her 80th birthday. We were there with Julius. On that occasion, we recited the poem by Maya Angelou, “And still I rise”…
— Cyril Ramaphosa 🇿🇦 (@CyrilRamaphosa) April 14, 2018
Read the full poem on the Poetry Foundation website.
Ramaphosa went on to pay tribute to Mama Winnie. Read it in tweets:
President Cyril Ramaphosa: the pain we carry cannot be extinguished #WinnieMandelaFuneral
— @SAgovnews (@SAgovnews) April 14, 2018
President Ramaphosa: her life was about service to her people…she was dedicated to the unity of the oppressed #WinnieMandelaFuneral
— @SAgovnews (@SAgovnews) April 14, 2018
President Ramaphosa: as a symbol of resistance, she was seen by the enemy as a threat #WinnieMandelaFuneral
— @SAgovnews (@SAgovnews) April 14, 2018
President Ramaphosa: she defied the apartheid ideology…proud, defiant and articulate she exposed apartheid. They could not break and silence her #WinnieMandelaFuneral
— @SAgovnews (@SAgovnews) April 14, 2018
President Ramaphosa: They wanted to see her broken, with bowed head and lowered eyes, and weakened by soulful cries, but still she rose #WinnieMandelaFuneral
— @SAgovnews (@SAgovnews) April 14, 2018
IN PICS: Thousands listen to President Cyril Ramaphosa deliver the eulogy at the #WinnieMandelaFuneral GCIS pic.twitter.com/nt3EgbJbfc
— @SAgovnews (@SAgovnews) April 14, 2018
President Ramaphosa: … Winnie Madikizela-Mandela was a giant, a pathfinder, a soldier, a healer, a champion of people’s struggles and forever the Mother of the Nation #WinnieMandelaFuneral
— @SAgovnews (@SAgovnews) April 14, 2018
President Ramaphosa: We must acknowledge that we are a society that is hurting, damaged by our past, numbed by our present and hesitant about our future #WinnieMandelaFuneral
— @SAgovnews (@SAgovnews) April 14, 2018
President Ramaphosa: Many people saw Mam’ Winnie as their mother because her own wounds made her real and easy to relate to #WinnieMandelaFuneral
— @SAgovnews (@SAgovnews) April 14, 2018
President Ramaphosa: Mam’ Winnie was a witness to the truths andhorrors of our nation, not only because of her own hardships but because of her courage #WinnieMandelaFuneral
— @SAgovnews (@SAgovnews) April 14, 2018
A true activist who used her voice to speak for the voiceless. This is how Mme Mokgobo remembers her close friend Mama Winnie Nomzamo Madikizela-Mandela. #WinnieMandelaFuneral https://t.co/CAc3vDb9x0
— @SAgovnews (@SAgovnews) April 14, 2018
President Ramaphosa: Mam’ Winnie provided leadership at the most difficult periods and sought no reward #WinnieMandelaFuneral
— @SAgovnews (@SAgovnews) April 14, 2018
President Ramaphosa: She wanted a South African nation that wouldheal the divisions of the past and eradicate the inequality and injustice of the present #WinnieMandelaFuneral
— @SAgovnews (@SAgovnews) April 14, 2018
President Ramaphosa: Just as Mam’ Winnie has united us in sorrow, let us honour her memory by uniting in common purpose #WinnieMandelaFuneral
— @SAgovnews (@SAgovnews) April 14, 2018
President Ramaphosa: Let us honour her memory by pledging here that we will dedicate all our resources, all our efforts, all our energy to the empowerment of the poor and vulnerable #WinnieMandelaFuneral
— @SAgovnews (@SAgovnews) April 14, 2018
President Ramaphosa: Let us honour her memory by pledging here that we will not betray the trust of her people, we will not squander or steal their resources, and that we will serve them diligently and selflessly #WinnieMandelaFuneral
— @SAgovnews (@SAgovnews) April 14, 2018
President Ramaphosa: The Mother of the Nation has died, but she is not gone. She lives on in the young girl who today still walks the dusty streets of Mbongweni, resolutethat her life will not be defined by the poverty into which she was born #WinnieMandelaFuneral
— @SAgovnews (@SAgovnews) April 14, 2018
President Ramaphosa: She lives on in the domestic worker who is determined that the suffering and sacrifice of her many years of servitude will not be visited on her children #WinnieMandelaFuneral
— @SAgovnews (@SAgovnews) April 14, 2018
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